Originally recorded in 1996 and long bootlegged before its official vinyl release in 2007 on Japan’s now-disappeared Leaf Hound Records, it’s not until some 15 years later that Church of Misery’s first album, Vol. 1, is seeing a legitimate CD release. Michigan imprint Emetic Records – who also reissued Church of Misery’s Early Works Compilation last year (another out of print Leaf Hound title) – has both CD and vinyl versions of the album, both with bonus tracks, and the Sabbath worship may have never been so complete. From the direct take on Black Sabbath’s Vol. 4 artwork, to the title, to the sampled storm that starts the album to the simplistic riff-based glory contained within the subsequent tracks, Church of Misery are missionaries spreading a message, giving praise in one of the most direct and vital ways: With groove.

The only remaining member (the only founding member left) from the Vol. 1 lineup of the band is Tatsu Mikami, whose wah-bass features heavily almost immediately with a solo on “Cloud Bed.” His Geezer Butler fills are to be expected, but like a lot of what Church of Misery has done musically over the course of their career, is no less glorious for hitting its marks. The serial killer obsession that’s come out in the vast majority of their lyrics is nascent on Vol. 1, vocalist Kazuhiro Asaeda handling most of the words with help from guitarist Tomohiro Nishimura, whose riffs – it should go without saying – are pure Iommic bastardization, and I mean that in the best way. The simple truth is that no one has ever quite captured the swing of mid-paced Black Sabbath as well as Church of Misery, and even as they close out Vol. 1 with a cover of Gun’s “Race with the Devil,” their treatment of it sounds like Trouble doing one of the tunes off Masters of Reality. Obviously, that’s a good thing. They’ve always been a “what you see is what you get” kind of band, an ethic they seem to share with British outfit Orange Goblin, who got started around the same time, but their simplicity is a huge part of their appeal. “Kingdom Scum” wouldn’t work if it wanted to do more than rock. The way “Celebrate Pigs” invokes “Snowblind” would fall flat if it was trying to be more than it is. Church of Misery requires prior induction, and as Vol. 1 shows, that’s apparently been the case right from the start.

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Of the several pleasant musical surprises 2011 has thus far wrought, none have stuck with me quite so much as Red Fang‘s Murder the Mountains. The Portland, Oregon, four-piece’s debut full-length for Relapse (second overall behind a 2009 self-titled on Sargent House) is an unflappable 10-track rock monster fuzzily-photographed while running through the woods with scientifically-impossible gait. From the catchy rock songs like new single “Wires” and the start-stop “Human Herd” to the more metallic feel of opener “Malverde” or “Into the Eye,” Red Fang‘s sonic diversity feels natural and unforced, which is getting harder and harder to come by when it comes to heavy rock.

Murder the Mountains was recorded by Chris Funk of The Decemberists (the right choice, if only for the drum sounds he gets out of John Sherman) and mixed by Vance Powell, whose considerable resume boasts a Grammy win for his engineering work with The Raconteurs. Two unlikely picks for four dudes playing beardo rock from Oregon, but there’s no arguing with results. These tracks are neither light of weight nor -ista of fashion. Instead, they rip through the burly riffage of guitarists Bryan Giles and David Sullivan, both of whom also contribute vocals — as does bassist Aaron Beam — ignoring convention and the “no-fun” heavy metal ethic in favor of entertaining songs that don’t sacrifice their edge in the name of accessibility. They make the accessibility come to them.

They have a couple mega-tours lined up: Metalliance — with Saint Vitus, Crowbar, Helmet, Kylesa, labelmates Howl and The Atlas Moth — starts tonight, March 17, and later in the summer, Red Fang will join the traveling Mayhem Festival with Megadeth, Disturbed and Godsmack, which is bound to put them in front of a bunch of commercial-rock-loving douchenozzles, but will doubtless also earn them a slew of new fans. Nonetheless, as I spoke to Bryan Giles for the following interview, branching out to audiences beyond the heavy underground was just a fraction of what I wanted to get his thoughts on.

Giles was more than amenable. We talked just hours after I posted my review of the album and we discussed the band’s multi-faceted songwriting approach, the consideration of audience, the fact that he’s never heard Entombed before, the growth between Red Fang‘s self-titled and Murder the Mountains, what they’re saying on the message boards (which he insists he reads only for entertainment purposes), Orion Landau‘s excellent cover art, and much more. We were only on the phone for about half an hour, but like Red Fang‘s music, the interview was packed full and moved at a pretty good clip.

The complete 3,500-word Q&A is after the jump. Please enjoy.

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On Friday, March 18, while most of us are nursing our post-St. Pat’s hangovers, by, uh, drinking more, doomly Cleveland rockers Threefold Law will be hitting the radio at local college station WJCU for an interview and to premiere music from their upcoming new album, Revenant.

If that seems really quick since their last release, it is. Their double-EP USB The Rede and The Burning Time was reviewed back in January. If I was Bill Peters of the show Metal on Metal, I’d ask them how the hell they managed to turn around new material so quickly.

Here’s the info, direct from the band:

Tune into WJCU 88.7 FM this Friday to hear Threefold Law in the studio with Bill Peters on Metal on Metal in advance of their show at the Grog Shop on Saturday night with Ohio Sky and Mechanics of Things.

For those outside of the Cleveland area, listen to a live stream of Metal on Metal at http://www.wjcu.org/. Angus and J. will talk with Bill on the air and debut a new song from Threefold Law, the first cut off of the new album, Revenant, due to release in late April. The band plans to present a token of appreciation to fans listening on Friday.

They’re the second band I know of to source their moniker from King Ludwig II of Bavaria — the other is the Canadian Madking Ludwig — but The Swan King are going for something entirely different musically than the progressive stonerisms the Montreal outfit emit. On Eyes Like Knives, the Chicago trio’s short Seventh Rule Recordings debut LP, they blend post-hardcore with a kind of brash heaviness, the punkish vocals of guitarist Dallas Thomas serving as the consistent line drawn across eight otherwise deceptively varied tracks. Eyes Like Knives is over in a meager 27 minutes, but feels complete in a musical sense, seems to be a full expression of an idea, rather than something that’s just trying to get the word out. So we’ll call it an album. Honestly, had The Swan King gone all out for another 20 or 25 minutes, Eyes Like Knives probably would have come out really redundant, but the energy they bring to these songs and the crispness with which they’re presented comes across on the record without sounding repetitive.

As noted above, they’re from Chicago, so of course the album was produced by – wait for it – Sanford Parker, who does the job one would expect him to do when it comes to capturing the angular peculiarities of the material on Eyes Like Knives, balancing the jagged riffs that drive the songs without losing track of bassist Jamie Drier’s contributions to the low end or drummer Zafar Musharraf’s placement at the fore. The album is structured into sides for the eight tracks following a five-second “Test Tone” intro. A two-minute song leads to two three-minute songs, then a four-minute song, and the cycle is repeated on the second half of the album. I don’t know if that’s something the trio did on purpose, or if it’s emblematic of their songwriting process or what, but it’s interesting anyway. As to the songs themselves, opening tracks like “Good Deeds” and “Cloaked into the Façade” are chunky and heavy-landing, modern and brash, reminiscent in some ways of earlier Sweet Cobra, but not as outwardly abrasive. “Peace Love Murder” proves a highlight for the subtle inclusion of melody in Thomas’ playing, the punkish side taking a back seat to something more substantial tonally but still upbeat and vibrant.

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Guitarist Ryan Adams of Connecticut traditional doom outfit Nightbitch recently got in touch with a link to a pro-shot live clip of the band in their new trio format. Nightbitch was previously fronted by none other than Phil Swanson — who has been in more bands than I can count but recently vacated the lead-singer post of Hour of 13 (still remaining in Vestal Claret and Seamount) — and drummer Chris Taylor has taken up the vocal role in this revamped incarnation.

Those aren’t easy shoes to fill, but Taylor does well with it, and as Nightbitch moves forward in following up their Sex and Magic EP (released last year on limited cassette and vinyl), it should be interesting to hear what he comes up with for melodies to complement Adams‘ doomly riffage and the formidable low end of bassist Mark Eles.

Here’s “Disrober/Sex and Magic,” filmed live somewhere in Connecticut:

Without a doubt, they’re the most pivotal doom band of all time who aren’t also Black Sabbath, but until recently, Saint Vitus wasn’t any kind of household name, even among metallers. Their sound has literally taken a generation to become properly appreciated, and with a whole league of bands out there playing a traditional doom style based in no small part on trying to emulate them, not to mention their ongoing reunion and resurgence, Saint Vitus are finally getting the recognition they’ve long deserved. They’re bigger in 2011 than they’ve ever been.

The band formed as Tyrant in 1978, with Dave Chandler on guitar, Mark Adams on bass, Armando Acosta on drums and Scott Reagers singing. That would be the lineup as well when, after a name change, Saint Vitus issued their self-titled debut on Greg Ginn of Black Flag‘s SST Records in 1984. That lineup also recorded 1985’s Hallow’s Victim (just recently officially released on CD for the first time) and the same year’s The Walking Dead EP, but by 1986’s Born too Late, Reagers was out of the picture and replaced by The Obsessed‘s Scott “Wino” Weinrich.

Weinrich would record a total of three studio LPs with Saint Vitus — Born too Late, 1988’s Mournful Cries and 1990’s V — as well as the Thirsty and Miserable EP. Vitus put out C.O.D. with Christian Lindersson (later of Count Raven) on vocals in 1992 and reunited with Reagers for their final album before splitting up, 1995’s Die Healing, both on Hellhound Records.

2003 and 2009 brought reunions of the Weinrich-fronted lineup, and the latter seems to have stuck, despite the untimely 2010 death of Acosta, who’d already been replaced in the band by Henry Vasquez (Blood of the Sun) due to his failing health. With confirmation of a new studio album in the works and a high-profile slot on 2011’s Metalliance Tour, there’s no doubt that a lot of listeners are going to be exposed to Saint Vitus for the first time, either because they were too young to catch them originally or just missed out. Either way, we get the age-old question of where to start.

The debate has always been between Saint Vitus, the first album, and Born too Late, the first album with Wino, and rightfully so. Had Vitus released nothing but these two records in the course of their career, maybe they wouldn’t be heralded as the gods they are now, but they still would have been able to have a sizable impact on underground metal. Both albums are absolute classics in doom, and close to if not as essential for understanding what the essence of the genre is as Black Sabbath‘s Master of Reality or Volume 4, and that’s not a comparison lightly made.

So the scenario is this: You’re standing in front of the Saint Vitus section at your favorite record store (they still have those, right?), and you only have enough cash for one. You can’t decide. Sweat is pouring down your forehead. Oh, if only this place took credit cards! You need to choose. But which? Which will you get, Saint Vitus or Born too Late?

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I haven’t been to SXSW in a couple years, but if I was to get on a plane at this point and go, it would be almost exclusively for the Small Stone Records showcase. I witnessed it personally from 2004-2007 and some of my best show memories ever are of heading down to Austin, drinking Shiner Bock and having my ears blown out by the likes of Sasquatch, Acid King, Suplecs and hometown heroes Dixie Witch.

Ever since the label added the day party, it’s been twice as much debauchery, and as I sit in still-cold New Jersey, I can’t help but think of the sun (and barbecue) in Texas and be a little sad I’m missing out. Especially since Small Stone has put together such a killer lineup this year, with the likes of Lo-Pan and The Might Could making their debut appearances.

In honor of the 2011 Small Stone SXSW showcase, the label has graciously given me permission to host a complete-album stream of the band who’s driving the furthest to get to the festival: Roadsaw, from Boston. Their self-titled full-length was released earlier this year (review here), and is precisely the kind of rock best suited to downing too many beers and hating the music industry. Believe me, I’d know.

It’s an honor and a pleasure to present Roadsaw, by Roadsaw. Hope you dig it:

[mp3player width=460 height=350 config=fmp_jw_widget_config.xml playlist=roadsaw-roadsaw.xml]

And in case you haven’t seen them yet, here are the awesome posters for the separate day and night parties, designed by recent-interviewee Brian Mercer:

After releasing their first two albums on Neurot, Portland, Oregon instrumental unit Grails began their association with Temporary Residence by appearing on the avant Black Sabbath tribute Everything Comes and Goes, covering the mother of all doom tracks, “Black Sabbath.” The newly-issued Deep Politics is Grails’ third full-length since then, and their sixth overall if you count the EP compilation Black Tar Prophecies Vols. 1, 2 & 3 on Important Records. From their 2003 The Burden of Hope full-length debut through 2008’s two LPs, Take Refuge in Clean Living and Doomsdayer’s Holiday, Grails had a remarkably prolific period, and though they released the Acid Rain DVD in 2009 and the fourth Black Tar Prophecies came out in 2010 (Vol. 5 is impending), the last couple years hasn’t found them nearly as present on the road or keeping the same level of productivity in terms of releases. That’s owed in no small part to drummer Emil Amos joining Om as the second half of the duo with Al Cisneros (Sleep, Shrinebuilder), as well as releasing solo material under the moniker Holy Sons, but he’s not the only one. Guitarist Zak Riles has also released an accomplished, meditative solo album, and toured with Portland singer-songwriter M. Ward. The effect all this has had is that the Grails of 2011 is a completely different animal.

Maybe that’s disingenuous. Grails has always shown diversity on their releases, beginning with The Burden of Hope and developing almost immediately an ethic for genre-transcendence on the 2004 follow-up, Redlight. On Deep Politics, however, the breadth of their creativity expands to bounds that are simply beyond anything they’ve ever done before. There are two sides to that. By reaching into new areas of sound, exploring (boldly) new influences, Grails today literally and physically cannot do what they’ve done before. I’d say this might disappoint some followers of the band, but I think if you’ve managed to stick it out this far with Grails, you probably expect something different each time out, and the sound the four-piece concoct on Deep Politics should be a boon to almost anyone who approaches it with an open mind. Their penchant for rich, contemplative atmospherics – a kind of think-thinky aural darkness – continues to run through the music, but across songs like the extended “I Led Three Lives” or the earlier “Corridors of Power,” Grails – the lineup completed by guitarist Alex Hall and bassist/pianist William Slater – bring in elements of dub and synthesized orchestration to affect an ambience like none they’ve experimented with previously. Beats back Native American flute sounds on “Corridors of Power,” which is a direct change from the lush and more organic build of opener “Future Primitive” – a manic guitar line running underneath like some kind of heart monitor – and the more piano- and guitar-driven reinterpretation of Morricone compatriot Bruno Nicolai’s “All the Colors of the Dark” score, from the 1972 film of the same name.

Immediately, Deep Politics surges with confidence and self-awareness. The title-track, led into by “Corridors of Power,” seethes with longing that comes through Slater’s piano work – so much so that about two minutes in, the music stops and Amos reintroduces it on drums, as though the song itself, said, “Oh what’s the point?” and tried to shut itself down. String-sounds texture “Deep Politics,” as they do much of the album, and there’s an acute sense of melody and rhythm in the guitars that feels more based in jazz than rock. “Deep Politics” is structured around, built from, the piano line, but in its later moments, it’s the strings that come to the fore, and it’s probably the most gorgeous realization to come from Grails to date, complemented by the shorter side A closer, “Daughters of Bilitis,” which seems to blend all the elements together: the electronic beats, the synth strings, the guitar and piano. It’s shorter than the title cut, and something of a comedown on the CD, but it makes sense thinking in terms of a vinyl release, which Grails always seem to do.

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